Wacom 2005 Annual Report Download - page 10

W acom Co., Ltd. Annual Report 2005
9
Electronic Systems and Devices (ESD) Business
For over 10 years since starting my career in computer
graphics, I’ve been using a W acom tablet for my artwork.
As a computer graphics artist, I’ve been involved in
several H ollywood movies such as “The City of Lost
Children,” “Titanic,” “Godzilla,” “Hollow Man,” and “X2: X -
Men United” etc., and the results are what you’ve seen in
the theaters. In H ollywood, W acom pen tablets are more
common than pencil and pen, and I can’t imagine doing
anything without them.
The ESD business segment is primarily dedicated to
the development, manufacture and sales of pen
tablets, pen sensor components and related
software. Pen tablets are computer data entry
devices consisting of an electronic pen and a tablet.
Pen sensor components include products such as
electronic pens, sensor boards and pen sensor
controller ICs. Pen tablets are used in a variety of
fields including illustration, photo image processing,
printing, film production, medical care, education and
presentations. As of March 31, 2005, we hold over
460 registered and pending patents worldwide. W e
are a leading company in the tablet market,
commanding approximately 70% of the global
market, by our own estimates, and 95.8% of the
domestic market (source: Business Computer N ews
2005). W e provide pen sensor components to
nearly every Tablet PC manufacturer across the
world.
By product line, pen tablets are broken into the
following three categories: professional pen tablets,
consumer pen tablets and interactive pen displays.
Including pen sensor components, we maintain four
product lines.
W e sell products in four major regions: Japan, N orth
and Latin America, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and
Asia. W ith our head office in Japan, subsidiaries in
the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom,
China, Korea and Australia (established in April
2005) and sales offices in cities including Taipei,
Singapore, Shanghai and Moscow, we are developing
new markets across the world while expanding our
sales channels. As a result of these efforts, the share
of our overseas sales has continued to grow,
reaching 62.7% (on a consolidated basis
) for the
fiscal year under review. W e are also developing a
supply chain management (SCM) system on a global
basis (refer to pages 7–8 on our globalization). O ur
commitment to R&D and the enhancement of our
mass production capabilities are strategic responses
to Internet advances and the approaching era of
ubiquitous computing.
Frederic Soumagnas
CG artist, Animation film director
Born January 18, 1967 in Limoges, France